Beach Bums

At the end of 2019 my back pain (AKA stress/burnout) got so bad I had to step back from my usual sports. No more AFL, no more Crossfit, no more surf boat rowing. All sports that are hard and fast, outsiders would say extreme. To me they were just my normal and I was trying to do them all at once. Plus working pretty much full time in physical job and uni part time. I was addicted to busyness (classic enneagram 7) and it started taking a toll. “Look at me I’m such a hero, look at all the things I can fit into one week” (eye roll)… I had a lot to learn about balance.

My body was saying NO to a lot of things but I’m not one to sit around and feel sorry for myself. I’m an energiser bunny. I just had to keep moving. I decided to have a crack at ocean swimming. Easy on the joints, still with an element of danger. Things need to be a little dangerous to interest me. I know there was group of oldies that swim every morning at Mooloolaba. I know this because I rowed at Mooloolaba and have nearly rowed over plenty of swimmers in the process (team effort, sweeps fault). So going from rowing to swimming, is like going from a cyclist hating driver, to a lycra cladding cyclist yourself. A shift in perspective.

At 6:30am when the swimming group wondered down to the water, I stealthy joined the back of the pack and pretended to know what I was doing. I can swim OK but I’ve never considered myself a swimmer. I’ve done a couple sprint distant triathlons and the swim leg was definitely not my strength. First swim wasn’t great. I looked up every couple strokes. I didn’t even know what I was aiming for. So I guess I was just looking up hoping there were people close by and no fins following me. About 400m of hard slog swimming and all the fears going crazy in my head, I couldn’t see the bottom and it all got a bit too murky for my liking. As I didn’t have any swim buddies YET I was on my own so I pulled the pin and did a lonely walk back to the surf club. I was determined to not let this swim get the better of me. I was not only a physical challenge but a pretty intense mental one too. Next day was similar only I got a little further. By the third day I had made it 1km to the end and met a few buddies in the process. My new mate Bob said I get the chocolate frog for swimming that day because everyone else swam 1km but he reckons I swam 2kms because I zigzagged the whole way! From then on I had swimming buddies and my swimming improved very quickly. I was a saltwater athlete swimming in a relatively straight line in no time.

I’ve played competitive sport my whole life. I have always had and always will have an athlete’s mindset and as much as a value sport so highly, stepping away from it last year was a very healthy decision. I needed to let go of the constant striving, coach pleasing and overtraining that was becoming so toxic. Caught up in trying to be the best at everything, I lost the real reason why I was doing all my sports. Doing an activity just for fun or just to feel good was a little hard to grasp at first. But in time, I slowly learnt how to listen to my body and just enjoy the movement and water moment to moment.

The beach bums aren’t just about the swimming. I made so many new friends. It took me a couple weeks to start remembering names. Lots of Johns and Daves. I don’t know if they get THAT excited about everyone joining to swim or that fact I was a young fit female that made my welcome extra friendly?? After swimming the Beach Bums spread themselves out across the local coffee spots. I started joinng in on that too. Although I am not a coffee person, I’m way too high on life for that stuff, I became a social coffee drinker. Interacting with the Beach Bum felt differrnt than spending time with most people my age. They tell stories of lives been lived, they don’t complain or gossip and most importantly NO PHONES. This type of connection felt real, like this is how we are suppose to connect with others. No matter how connected you think you are on social media it will never replace the goodness of REAL connection. Social media has it’s place but I’m all for telling or hearing stories in person over Instagram stories!

Some days all my cells would be buzzing for hours after being with the Beach Bums in the morning. Something about the mix of sunshine, saltwater, moving your body, good people and connection (and maybe the coffee too) that make me feel super alive. And I know that’s why these amazing people who swim everyday are so healthy! No medicine can compare. From the outside it may seem odd for a young lass hanging out with bunch of oldies, but for an old soul like me, I had found my people. Good vibes only. I keep them young, they keep me wise!

A special mention goes out to my good mate Richie. We hit it off quickly once he found out that I am footy girl and took me under his wing. Richie loves talking footy, the building trade, birds, fishing and everything inbetween. Sometimes we would stay at the beach for hours after our swim just telling stories. I’ve heard most of his stories about four times. Lucky he tells a good story. He is the kind of guy who picked me up on Mothers day for lunch knowing I was going to be alone and lent me a car while awaiting the Troopy. The photo below is Richie and I before my last swim! Never a dull moment! This man taught me to never take yourself too seriously and to let worries go. An unlikely friendship but a friendship like no other!

With ocean swimming, everyday the conditions are different. Sometimes the it's so rough you swallow mouthfuls of water, feel like you are going backward against the current or you even cop a blue bottle sting. Somedays its crystal clear, you can see the bottom the whole way, you feel like your flying and you spot plenty of sealife. Just like life. Some days are good, some not so good. But you need the bad ones to really appreciate the good ones. I met the Beach Bums at a time when I really needed a new perspective on life. They reminded me that’s it’s the small things that really bring happiness. Like the first dive into the ocean each day, the feeling of sun warming your skin on the walk back along the beach, a good joke or a coffee shout. I feel truly blessed to have met all the wonderful people I did through the Beach Bums and miss them all very much. I have a jar on Mooloolaba sand that was gifted to me that sits on my dash for the days I need to remember the good people and times down at that special beach.

Jess

10/01/2021